Dubai: Khor Fakkan, Al Wasl and Kalba were the big winners easing into the quarter-finals of the Arabian Gulf Cup over the weekend.
Khor Fakkan played out a goalless draw against Al Ain to move into the last eight stages based on their 4-2 away win against the 2008-09 champions.
Going into the home play-off with a handy 4-2 cushion, the underdogs played out a defensive line-up to deny Al Ain throughout the 90 minutes to make the last eight stages, where they will come up against former champions Shabab Al Ahli Dubai.
Beaten in the Arabian Gulf League, Al Wasl carved out a 2-0 win over Al Wahda to move into the quarter-finals with a 4-1 aggregate. Easy 2-1 winners in their home play-off, the Cheetahs will now meet AGL champions Sharjah in the quarter-finals, the dates for which will be decided at a later date.
Shabab Al Ahli Dubai overturned their 1-1 draw with Al Dhafra at home by winning 3-0 at the Al Dhafra Stadium to set up a quarters clash with Khor Fakkan.
Bani Yas will be hosting Ittihad Kalba in the first leg of the quarter-finals, before playing the second leg away from home. The Sky Blues advanced to the next round with a 3-1 aggregate scoreline over Hatta after they won 2-0 away from home and drew 1-1 at home.
Kalba also had a 2-1 advantage at home, before drawing 1-1 with Al Jazira to advance with a 3-2 aggregate score.
Fujairah will be clashing with Al Nasr in the quarter-finals after eliminating Ajman 3-1 on aggregate. Fujairah had won 1-0 at home and then this week they helped themselves to a 2-1 away win to advance.
This season, the Arabian Gulf Cup followed a different format with the defending AGL and Cup champions (Sharjah and Al Nasr) seeded straight into the quarter-finals, while the other six quarter-finalists were decided over a home and away play-off system.
The dates and times for the quarter-finals will be decided and revealed at a later date.
RESULTS
Bani Yas 1 Hatta 1 (3-1 on aggregate)
Ajman 1 Fujairah 2 (1-3)
Al Jazira 1 Kalba 1 (2-3)
Khor Fakkan 0 Al Ain 0 (4-2)
Al Dhafra 0 Shabab Al Ahli Dubai 3 (1-4)
Al Wasl 2 Al Wahda 0 (4-1)